The present invention is related to the art of tire repair and more particularly to an improved method and tire repair plug for repairing and sealing punctures of vehicle tires.
Although various styles of tire repair plugs are found in the prior art, none have been fully accepted by the public as a reliable means for repairing and sealing punctured tires. Consequently, punctured tires are often discarded, or after being repaired are used only as spares, at great expense to their owners.
Heretofore, tire repair plugs have been characterized by soft highly flexible smooth bodies of rubber-like materials. In the common method of repair in present use an adhesive is applied to a thin smooth headless strip of a soft highly flexible rubber-like material. The strip is then folded, forcibly elongated and inserted into a puncture. During the insertion of the strip into the puncture, the soft flexible material is substantially deformed to conform to the puncture and a portion of the adhesive is wiped away from the smooth surface of the strip.
One undesirable consequence of the present practice is that sealing effectiveness and repair reliability vary with differences in puncture size and shape.
Another undesirable consequence is that the quality of the repair is dependent upon the skill of the repairman.
Another undesirable consequence is that a portion of the adhesive is wiped away from the smooth outer surface of the plug during its insertion into the puncture.
Another undesirable consequence is that the soft flexible material reduces the durability of the repair plug and is easily penetrated by the ends of broken steel cords of radial tires which protrude into the puncture.
Among the remaining prior art, Cluxton, U.S. Pat. No. 594,066 (November, 1897), discloses a repair plug for sealing a puncture made of a highly flexible material, having a smooth tubular stem and adjoining hollow head, the head portion thereof being forcibly elongated and passed through a puncture.
O'Neill, U.S. Pat. No. 609,901 (August, 1898), discloses a multi-piece tire repair plug for sealing a puncture. One piece, made from a highly flexible material, has a smooth cylindrical stem portion, for engaging in sealing relationship a puncture of a tire, and an adjoining thin circular disc portion. The other piece, a heavier more rigid disc portion, is joined to the perimeter of the flexible disc portion of said first piece.
Kraft, U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,931 (October, 1937), discloses a repair plug for sealing a puncture of a pneumatic tube, made from a highly flexible material, having a smooth hollow conical stem portion and an adjoining thin circular head portion. In making a repair, the smooth conical stem portion is forcibly elongated and passed through the puncture.